Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerPhil Dawson, the last remaining member of the 1999 expansion Browns, can break Lou Groza's team record for career field goals with two against the Falcons on Sunday.

When Browns kicker Phil Dawson signed here in 1999 as a first-year free agent who had never kicked in an NFL game, he hauled out the record book, looked up the Browns' all-time field goal record of 234 set by Hall of Famer Lou Groza, and decided then and there that he was going to break it.

"I wanted to see where the bar had been set here," he said. "I remember telling my wife [Shannon] way back then, 'Someday that's going to happen.' "

Now, 13 years, five head coaches, three children, and 120 losses later, Dawson has a chance to accomplish the feat Sunday at the Stadium against the Falcons. He needs one to tie Groza's mark of 234 and two to break it.

"Had I announced [the goal] back then, I probably would've gotten laughed out of town," he said. "It's heresy, you know. But you might as well try to be the best."

Shannon's reaction to his goal?

"Go get it," he said. "I yanked her out of Texas, took her all the way across the world to this strange, foreign land of Ohio and told her I'm gonna get that. She said, 'You better. You made me go through all this.' It'll definitely be a special moment for her and me because there's been a lot of ups and downs between then and now."

For Dawson, the fact that it could happen at Cleveland Browns Stadium makes it all the more special.

"Obviously, we wanted it to be in Cleveland, in front of the fans, and to have my own family there," he said. "It's been a family deal. To think this all started before I ever had kids and now my two boys will be there Sunday is special. Hopefully it will happen and lead to a victory."

The only remaining member of the 1999 expansion team, Dawson admitted that the record is looming large in his mind.

"Uncharacteristically, I found myself reflecting a lot this week," he said. "It's going to be a challenge to zero in and make sure I approach everything the same way."

As for the stopping the game to commemorate the moment, Dawson said there won't be time.

"I've got to kick off," he said. "Seriously, I'm trying to prepare myself for that, because I think it's going to be a pretty emotional deal, but a minute later I've got to go do my job."

Paul Sancya / Associated PressPhil Dawson kicks a 29-yard field goal in Detroit last season, one of 233 field goals he has made as a Brown.

What also makes it special for Dawson is that he got to meet Groza, who died in 2000, during that first training camp in 1999.

"That first training camp here, he pulled me into the tents right over here and I sat down at a round table with him," said Dawson. "That's when it really hit me. I was like, 'Wow.' That that was the first Hall of Famer I had ever had the pleasure of sitting down with. Just to share that moment kind of added fuel to that motivation way back then.

"The amount of respect I have for him and what he was able to do here -- every day I come down this road [The Browns facility is on Lou Groza Boulevard] I see his name on the street. You mix all that together, it's going to be pretty neat."

Dawson said he and Shannon didn't know it would take 13 years to reach the goal, but knew it was important to set the record.

"For the first time in my career, I wasn't surrounded by people that believed in me," he said. "I can still remember the day of final cuts in 1999. Here was my moment when I made my first NFL team, and Chris Palmer said, "We're going to start out with you."

"Literally I felt like that whole season, I miss a kick, I'm out of a job. It wasn't necessarily fun or enjoyable. I needed something to shoot for, because there wasn't a whole lot of positive things going on around me."

In addition to nearing the field goal record, his 986 points rank third on the Browns' career scoring list. His 82.9 career field goal percentage ranks 10th all-time in NFL history and first in Browns history.

"Talking about Phil Dawson, number one you have to talk about the person," said Browns special teams coach Brad Seely. "He's a solid guy. I think that is one of the reasons he has become one of the better kickers in the history of the NFL. He really works at his craft. It's always enjoyable for me as a coach to see a good guy who works hard have success at what he does."

Unlike Groza, who kicked in 13 championships, including four in the All-America Football Conference, Dawson has gone 60-120 in his 13 seasons, with one playoff game and only two winning seasons. Dawson also has wanted a new contract for several years, but the team hasn't been willing. His current deal is up after this year. Still, he's always come to training camp on time and kicked like he's going to the Super Bowl.

Robin Rombach / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via APPhil Dawson's first game-winning kick for the Browns was this field goal as time expired to give the Browns a win in Pittsburgh in 1999.

"My attitude has been it's my time to go to work, be the best I can with the opportunity I've been given," he said. "If you don't have a goal, you can lose your way."

Dawson has 12 game-winning field goals. The kick most people will remember is the game-tying 51-yarder in Baltimore in 2007 that hit an upright, bounced off a metal support bar behind the crossbar and went back onto the field as time expired. Eventually, the kick was ruled good and the Browns won in overtime on Dawson' 33-yard kick. But Dawson suspects he hasn't kicked his most memorable one yet.

"I'd be willing to bet two from right now [the record-breaker] may be that one, to be honest," he said. "But there's certainly been some big ones through the years. I just wished more of them would've resulted in victories because that's kind of the whole point of what we're doing here."

Dawson's accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering he kicks in the whipping winds and frigid conditions of Cleveland Browns Stadium.

"I don't expect other people to understand what it's taken, but I know what it has required of me both physically and emotionally," he said. "I've learned to embrace the challenges here. I used to like to complain about them. I think people who have kicked in this league have a tremendous amount of respect for it and they've told me so."

He admits he has no idea what the future holds, but believes in this team.

"You can wish your career away talking about next year," he said. "I haven't given up on this season. My focus is on winning games. That's what I'm driven to do. For now, I'm going to cherish the moment."

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